The Cassatelle di Agira are typical of the municipality of the same name in the province of Enna. They are a very ancient dessert, it is thought to date back to the Spanish domination in Sicily which brought the use of chocolate to the island. They have a crescent shape crescent and are prepared with a tender shortcrust pastry dusted with powdered sugar and filled with a mixture of cocoa, ground almonds, chickpea flour, sugar and dried lemon peel and a little cinnamon. Their production is very laborious and requires several steps, the recipe is jealously guarded and handed down from generation to generation. The secret of a perfect cassatella lies in the balance of the individual ingredients that make up the filling and in a thin, soft and crumbly shortcrust pastry.
Nougats are a miniature version of the usual bigger nougat, in the shape of a parallelepiped and covered with white, milk, dark, coffee, orange and vanilla chocolate. The name nougat derives from torre which means toast, referring to the toasting of the almonds used to which pistachios can be added for the version of the same name. The nougats are particularly refined sweets that cannot be missing in a box dedicated to the best sweets of Sicily.
The history of candied fruit begins in the East, particularly in Mesopotamia and China, in order to preserve roots and plants. But, the real precursors of modern candying are the Arabs, who served candied citrus fruits and roses in the topical moments of their banquets. The name candied, in fact, originates from the Arabic word qandi which indicates the sugar cane juice used by the ancients to preserve flowers and fruits, in order to transform them into sweet delicacies. Sicily acquired the mastery of candying during the Arab domination and candied fruit is still part of many traditional sweets. Our candied oranges covered with chocolate are particularly elegant to look at, delicious to taste and contribute to making any table where they are served refined and hard to forget.